THE WESTMINSTER SHORTER CONFESSION famously says that the “chief end of man (sic) is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” This classic theological assertion is held with conviction by many in the Reformed tradition and beyond. God created us to give him (or her?) glory. The point of the universe is to glorify God.

It is often assumed that the way we glorify God is through worship. And worship is often understood as: singing songs on a Sunday morning, hearing a sermon, putting some money in the collection plate, and drinking some stale coffee afterward while dissecting the second point of the sermon or talking about the upcoming bake sale.

This idea of worship as being the ultimate goal of the church was recently explored by Ed Stetzer, prolific evangelical author. In a post in Christianity Today entitled: “Worship as the Ultimate Act,” Stetzer asks:

Worship is one of those fascinating topics that can both unite and divide the church. I’ve heard it said that “worship matters most”—seemingly a bit of a strong statement, but the question is: Is it true?

It’s a question worth exploring, as many churches seem to exist for the sole purpose of putting together Sunday worship services. I know that for many of my clergy colleagues a lot of a given week’s effort is focused on putting together, preparing for, and executing Sunday worship gatherings.

Designed for Worship?

In some evangelical circles one might think that evangelism is the point of the church. We’ve heard the good news of Jesus, and need to share that with others. This is the most important thing. It’s at the top of any Christian’s to-do list.

John Piper though, says that missions or evangelism is secondary.

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship does not. Worship is ultimate, not missions because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

He is speaking probably with the Westminster Shorter Catechism in mind, and perhaps with texts like Revelation 4 in mind: “Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE Lord GOD ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME.”

As Stetzer notes, Piper suggests that worship is the ultimate act of human experience, that all of humanity was designed for worship, and that our ultimate existence will be like those creatures in Revelation for eternity. It’s certainly understandable that if we are going to be doing a certain action forever (hard to fathom), it’s important that we start practicing for that now. But back to the idea that humanity was designed for worship: we can certainly see forms of worship across cultures around the world and across history.

Stetzer puts it even more strongly than that:

Worship is something that all people do all the time, everywhere, at all places.

I’m not sure I would put it that strongly, that everyone is worshiping something all the time, but he later puts it this way: people seek to give adoration, affection and attention to something. When worship is defined this broadly, then yes. People do give affection and attention to something.

But I also think one could give adoration, affection and attention to a cute kitten, and I don’t think anyone would call that worship, so I’m not sure that definition is as helpful.

Maybe if we added the word reverence and awe that would help? I think we ‘worship’ celebrity in Western culture. We ‘idolize’ people with star power. But I also think that most people have the ability to differentiate that from religious worship. We don’t really think Taylor Swift is the divine goddess over all of the universe (am I going out on a limb here?), even if we just had a euphoric, unbelievable time in the front row at a concert of hers.
We tend to separate or use the word ‘worship’ differently when using it in a religious sense.

And we tend to narrow it down to what happens on a Sunday morning.

Stetzer seems to do as much. He talks about the power that worship has to transform lives. And he narrows this down to singing songs and listening to sermons: “LifeWay Research’s Transformational Church Research Project showed that of all churches that were seeing regular, consistent transformation in the lives of people who made up those churches, more than 75 percent either strongly or moderately agreed that they see evidence of God changing lives as a direct result of their worship services.”

Nevermind that this research is somewhat dubious as they are asking churches about how effective their own worship services are. I’m sure the respondents were objective in their answers.

Stetzer then quotes one Scripture text (1 Chronicles 16:25) and concludes: “Scripture teaches, and research affirms, that worship is most significant in the life of the believer and in the life of the church.”

So one verse, and arguably sketchy research equals – worship is the most important thing. And by worship, he seems to mean: Sunday morning.

Jesus and Worship

As a follower of Jesus, I find this interesting. If we look at Jesus’ life and ministry there seems to be a lack of emphasis on worship. And assuming that his example sets the bar for his followers, this is not insignificant.

At least, worship of the Sunday morning sort (in his case, Saturday).

The most important commandment for Jesus was: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

For Jesus, loving God was not to be limited to a once-a-week one-hour gathering. Loving God was not to be conflated with sitting in the pews. And some of his harsher words were toward those who obsessed about ‘getting worship right’: “Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” (Mt 23:23)

Earlier, when Jesus is being chastised for eating with tax collectors and sinners, he says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’” (Mt 9:12-13)

In other words, they were missing the point in their obsession with ‘proper worship’, when loving God was much broader than a set of rules or a list of songs. God longs for justice!

In Isaiah, the very first chapter, the prophet says:

Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers; listen to the law of our God, you people:
“The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.

Later in Isaiah, God is quoted as saying: “Is not this the kind of fasting (worship) I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,  to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”

And in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus begins his ministry at a ‘worship gathering’ at a synagogue in Capernaum, and he reads from—you guessed it—the scroll of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Stetzer concludes with this: “Worship matters. Yet, at its heart, worship is not about us. My hope is that we might actually worship that way, putting aside our preferences, focusing on Jesus, and making it all about him.”

OK. I could get on board with that. But I’m afraid that the focus on Jesus he’s talking about is the formulaic “Jesus-died-so-you-don’t-have-to-and-now-everything-is-awesome” Jesus. Not the “in-the-dirt-with-the-marginalized-opposing-the-powers-that-be-and-seeking-justice” Jesus. Yet the latter is closer, I think, to the Jesus who actually walked the fields of Galilee and the streets of Jerusalem.

The Jesus who knew that our love for God is on display by how we treat each other, how we act toward our fellow humanity, and, perhaps especially, how we treat those who harm us the most – enemies and opponents.
The Jesus who was willing to challenge the religious institutions of his day because they were obsessing about rules and worship and gatherings, while missing the more important needs of justice, love, and forgiveness.

Is Worship Ultimate?

So is worship the ultimate act, as Stetzer and Piper assert?

Going with their seemingly limited notion of worship, I’d have to say no. In fact, one could say if God were to show up at many of our Sunday services, with the amount of time, money and energy expended on creating an emotion-driven, first-class spectacle, he’d have words similar to those in Isaiah’s first chapter. “When you come to appear before me like this, who has asked this of you? Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.”

Of course, Sunday services can create change in human lives as Ed Stetzer indicates. We can be inspired to love God and neighbor, to seek justice, to live empowered lives when we come together in weekly worship. It is not either/or. Yet the weight of the life of Jesus and the critique of the prophets toward the practice of the cult and professional clergy makes me think our churches ought to start investing more energy in justice, in neighborhood flourishing and in practices of peace than we do on choosing what songs to sing, which hymnal to sing from or which font to use on our power point.

If worship is as broad as giving glory to God while living in the manner of the Jesus who displayed radical love, inclusion toward the excluded, speaking truth to power—then I think we just might be coming back to “the heart of worship.” (ahem)

Bryan Berghoef is a pastor, writer, and author of the book, Pub Theology: Beer, Conversation and God.  He insists that good things happen when we sit around the table together and talk about things that matter, and what better setting than at the pub, over a pint. Bryan has been hosting pub conversations since 2008.